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(Update) Machete but no evidence of gunshots found after dispute near Burnaby school

Burnaby RCMP hasn't ruled out links to Lower Mainland gang conflict
Police Tape GettyImages
Neighbours reported hearing screaming and gunshots near a Burnaby elementary school Friday night.

Police have determined no shots were fired and no one was hurt during an altercation near a Burnaby elementary school last Friday – but links to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict haven’t been ruled out, according to the RCMP.

Officers were called to Armstrong Avenue near Cariboo Road, close to Armstrong Elementary School, at 9:10 p.m. on Friday for reports of shots fired.

Investigators have since determined there had been a dispute between two groups of people in three vehicles.

A machete was found at the scene but no evidence of gunshots, according to the Burnaby RCMP.  

One of the vehicles, a Honda CRV, was stolen, leaving the occupants, an early-20-something man and woman, at the scene, police said.

During the altercation, the windows of the CRV had been broken, according to police, which might explain the reports of gunshots.

Neighbours had also told police they heard screaming.

Investigators have not yet determined whether the incident was gang related, but that possibility hasn’t been ruled out, according to the Burnaby RCMP.

The people involved appear to have been known to each other, police said, and the incident does not appear to have been random.

The gang enforcement unit has been called in to help in the investigation.